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Firefox Marketplace Shows the Power of the Web, Delivers Cross-Platform Global and Local Apps

Mozilla is a nonprofit organisation and global community dedicated to the mission of promoting openness, innovation and opportunity online. We create products that capture these values and that people around the world love and choose to use, like Firefox.

Mozilla is working with operator, hardware and developer partners around the world to offer more choice and control in the mobile industry with Firefox OS, which makes smartphones more accessible to people around the globe. Firefox OS smartphones are the first devices powered completely by Web technologies to deliver the performance, personalisation and price you want with a beautiful, intuitive and easy-to-use experience that is unmatched by any other phone.

Firefox OS offers two ways to discover and use apps. An adaptive app search, which is a brand new concept for smartphones that literally transforms your phone to match your interests in any moment, and the Firefox Marketplace to help you easily discover popular global apps and relevant local apps.

In just a few months since the Firefox Marketplace opened with the first Firefox OS launch, we’ve seen significant momentum with thousands of apps submitted and available today, including some that are currently exclusive to the Firefox Marketplace, like the Manana reading app, Senzari Music Graph, Jaxogram photo-sharing app and games like TrippyTap.

“Mozilla is dedicated to putting the power of the Web in everyone’s hands and Firefox OS shows the promise and potential of the Web, without the need for proprietary apps and closed platforms,” said Rick Fant, Mozilla Vice President of Firefox Marketplace. “We are excited by the developer interest in the short time since we’ve opened the Firefox Marketplace and are impressed by the creativity and innovation inspired by Mozilla-pioneered WebAPIs.”

Mozilla introduced new WebAPIs to unlock the power of the Web and enable the Web to be the world’s largest marketplace. These WebAPIs provide access to everything from the dialer and camera to Bluetooth, SMS, accelerometer and more. Developers around the world can now build rich and fun Web experiences that could previously only be developed with proprietary native code, specific to each platform.

Firefox OS gives developers flexible payment options including operator billing and an open API to execute in-app payments, which Mozilla aims to standardise for all Web browsers and operating systems. Mozilla is working with the Inneractive ad network to create a simple library for integrating ads into apps and games specifically for Firefox OS.

Firefox OS levels the playing field in the mobile industry and addresses issues like app fragmentation and discoverability. Porting apps to Firefox OS is a simple process that takes only a few minutes, so developers don’t have to worry about building for multiple operating systems. Firefox OS apps are available across devices and platforms and your content is tied to you, not your devices or operating system.

This means developers can create and distribute apps without gatekeepers, while people and their content don’t get locked into devices or platforms.

John Jackson, IDC Research Vice President said, “Many of the new markets Firefox OS is expanding into offer significant volume potential, and contribute to Web ecosystem benefits. This growth underscores operators’ strategic commitment to the platform and their satisfaction with consumer adoption to date. Firefox OS is entering its second phase of expansion at a time when other aspiring third smartphone platforms continue to struggle for position, scale, and sustainability in the competitive market. The platform continues to add new features that are appropriate for its target markets, striking a balance between value to consumers and affordability. Perhaps more importantly, Firefox OS continues to attract new apps and content partnerships. These are the lifeblood for a platform and should further drive consumer adoption and spur innovation in developer communities.”

Firefox Marketplace is included with all Firefox OS smartphones and a preview is currently available on Firefox for Android, Windows and Mac.

Firefox OS smartphones first went on sale in July and will be available in more than 10 markets around the world by the end of the year.